Renfield (2023): Dracula's HR Nightmare
You know what Dracula's been missing for a century? A therapist and a workplace comedy subplot. Nicolas Cage finally gets to sink his fangs into the Count while Nicholas Hoult plays history's most codependent familiar, and somehow this unhinged premise actually works, but not for the reasons you'd expect.
The premise alone sells itself. Renfield attends a support group for people in toxic relationships, slowly realizing his boss is the ultimate abusive partner. It is a one-joke concept stretched into a feature. But here is the thing. Director Chris McKay knows exactly how thin this ice is and skates across it with manic energy before you notice the cracks. The gore is cartoonishly excessive. The jokes land more often than they miss. Cage chews scenery like it owes him money. You keep waiting for it to collapse, and it never quite does.
What Is It About
The setup is simple. Renfield has served Dracula for decades, fetching victims and enduring constant emotional abuse. When he joins a codependency support group in New Orleans, something clicks. He wants out. Enter Awkwafina as a frustrated cop with her own family baggage, and suddenly our bug-eating lackey has something worth fighting for. But escaping an immortal narcissist requires more than self-help affirmations. The question becomes whether freedom is even possible when your boss literally cannot die.
Plot Holes and Things That Make No Sense
Okay so Renfield gets his superpowers from eating bugs, right? The movie establishes this clearly. But the strength boost seems to last exactly as long as any given scene requires, sometimes seconds, sometimes an entire fight sequence. Convenient. Also Dracula spends the first half of the film barely able to move, recovering from near death, yet somehow tracks Renfield across New Orleans with zero explanation. Did he Uber? And the crime family subplot exists purely to give Awkwafina something to do, connecting to the main Dracula storyline through coincidences so lazy they deserve their own support group. The script needed one more draft and a friend willing to ask uncomfortable questions.
The Good, The Bad, The Honest
Cage delivers exactly what you want from unleashed Cage. His Dracula is theatrical, petty, and weirdly hilarious, treating centuries of evil like a middle manager defending his quarterly numbers. Hoult matches him beat for beat, selling Renfield's puppy dog desperation with surprising heart. The practical gore effects are genuinely impressive, arms ripped off with joyful excess. But Awkwafina feels stranded in a different film entirely. Her cop subplot drags every time it appears. The pacing stumbles in the second act. The emotional beats rush past without earning anything. Two great performances cannot carry what the script refuses to support.
Cast and Direction
Chris McKay directs like he is afraid you will check your phone, throwing gore and gags at the screen with caffeinated desperation. It works until it does not. The real surprise is Hoult, who transforms pathetic simping into genuine pathos. Cage gets the memes, but Hoult carries the movie on his weary, blood-splattered shoulders.
How It Ends
Renfield finally kills Dracula by ripping him apart and exposing the pieces to sunlight. The support group members help, each empowered by eating bugs Renfield shared with them. Dracula explodes into ash. Renfield walks into the daylight, free at last, hinting he might use his powers for good alongside Awkwafina. The film earns this ending emotionally but cheats mechanically. We are told only Renfield gains strength from bugs because of his connection to Dracula, yet randos from group therapy suddenly hulk out with zero explanation. The rule gets broken for a crowd pleasing finale that feels fun but hollow.
The Verdict
The single best thing this film does is make you root for a man whose job description includes kidnapping cheerleaders for his vampire boss. Final verdict: it is a messy, overstuffed comedy horror that somehow charms its way past its own flaws. Skip it and you miss Cage at his most deliciously unhinged, Hoult discovering his inner action star, and the wildest use of a severed arm since Evil Dead 2. Your loss.
Is Renfield (2023) worth watching?
Yes
Renfield (2023) scores 7.1 out of 10 on SpoilSins, and the one-line verdict is "Yes". Below the SpoilSins median of 7.5: 30% of the 113 films scored here rate lower.
7.1/10 the SpoilSins score
- Released
- 2023
- Genre
- Comedy, Fantasy, Horror-Thriller
- Reviewed by
- Broikos Nikos,
- Scale
- Out of 10, and what that means, against every score on SpoilSins
